A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 columbines issues

Hello I have purchased 3 columbines at the time of purchase they were all the same size and they are all planted in basicly the same garden of the yard. One is still quite small the other is huge but no stems or blooms and the other has bloomed profusely. My big question is should I dead head my bloomer it is looking kinda scragly with the seed pods on it and gettin less and less blooms. My second question is should I expect blooms any time this year off of the other 2?

Columbines are short lived, so if you want more plants, let it reseed. With that said, you can remove most of the old blooms to make it look nicer. The foliage tends to look ratty after they bloom. You can actually cut the plant completely back and new fresh foliage will appear in a few weeks. It's hard to say whether your others will bloom or not. Since it's already late June I sort of doubt it. They usually bloom in spring and early summer.